Jade Void Palace! Yuanshi Tianzun's sacred ground!
The supreme holy land in the hearts of countless cultivators of the Primordial World now stood towering before him, emanating vast, majestic, supreme Dao resonance that filled one with boundless reverence and yearning.
Yet before the final nine white jade steps leading to the palace gates, Fairy Yun Yao stood gracefully, blocking the way.
She still wore that moon-white Daoist robe. Her features were delicate and beautiful, while her aura was even purer and deeper than before. Clearly, her cultivation had improved again after returning to Kunlun Mountain.
She looked at Li Su with appreciation in her eyes, along with a trace of complicated emotion.
"Fellow Daoist Yun Yao." Li Su's bamboo body paused slightly as he bowed. "May I ask what test awaits in this final 'Heart Inquiry' trial?"
Having reached this place, he could already sense an indistinct gaze from within Jade Void Palace, one that seemed to stand above all things, resting upon this very spot.
This final trial was likely anything but ordinary.
Yun Yao smiled faintly. Rather than answering directly, she asked, "Fellow Daoist Mo Xing, you have traveled all this way, passed through Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, braved perilous lands and desperate dangers, encountered many opportunities, and even earned the favor of Martial Grand-Uncle Qingxu and Martial Uncle Yuding, who bestowed Dao decrees upon you. Do you know why?"
Li Su pondered before answering, "Perhaps... because this junior has some talent, and my Dao heart is fairly resolute?"
"Yes, but not entirely." Yun Yao shook her head, her tone turning solemn. "There is no lack of those with outstanding talent and temperament in the Primordial World. The elders value you even more because you are a 'variable.'"
"A variable?" Li Su's heart stirred. Yuqing Zhenren had mentioned that word before as well.
"Indeed." Yun Yao nodded. "Although the Investiture of the Gods calamity has passed, the Heavenly Dao continues to operate, and great calamities never cease."
The Primordial World appeared peaceful, but hidden currents churned beneath the surface.
Master, along with the various martial uncles, were all deducing heavenly secrets and laying plans for the future. Yet you, Mo Xing—your appearance, your Dao path, and your many encounters all lay beyond heavenly calculation. Thus, you are a variable.
A variable might bring calamity, but it might also bring a sliver of hope. That was why the elders granted you opportunities: both as an investment and as observation.
Li Su fell silent. So he had long since entered the Saints' sight and become a special piece upon the chessboard.
The feeling made him uncomfortable, yet there was nothing he could do. Before a Saint, he truly was no different from a chess piece.
Yun Yao continued, "This final 'Heart Inquiry' trial does not ask whether your Dao heart is resolute. Anyone who has reached this place no longer needs to have their Dao heart questioned."
It asks this: if you enter Jade Void Palace and hear the Saint's Great Dao, what path will you wish to take in the future?
Will you accept the fate of a chess piece and drift with the current? Or... will you seek to leap beyond the chessboard, even... to wield the pieces?
Leap beyond the chessboard? Wield the pieces? Li Su's bamboo body trembled slightly. The question was too sharp, striking directly at his heart!
To ask such a question before a Saint's sacred ground carried extraordinary meaning!
He remained silent for a long time, his divine sense sweeping through himself. Every fragment of his journey surfaced in his mind:
The desperate struggle in the early days after transmigrating, the hardship of devouring remnant souls, the joy of obtaining the system and evolving time and time again, the fear and fierce battles against powerful enemies, and the gratitude he felt upon encountering opportunities.
His yearning for higher realms, his curiosity and desire to explore the Primordial World, and the deeply buried desire within him—the refusal to be controlled, the pursuit of true freedom and transcendence...
His path had always been carved out through desperate circumstances and explored through the unknown! How could he be willing to remain someone else's chess piece forever?
Li Su raised his head, his bamboo body standing straight. The intent conveyed by his divine sense was firm and clear. "This junior has traveled this far only to seek the true Dao and seize control of my own fate."
"The Saint's Great Dao is what this junior yearns for, and I am willing to seek instruction with sincere reverence. However, the direction of one's Dao should be decided by one's own heart."
"This junior does not wish to be a chess piece. If the opportunity arises, I am willing to fight for that sliver of transcendence and witness the scenery at the end of the Great Dao!"
When his words fell, silence descended before Jade Void Palace. Fairy Yun Yao watched him quietly, light flowing through her beautiful eyes as though she were judging the sincerity of his heart.
After a long while, she suddenly smiled, like ice and snow melting for the first time. "What a 'the direction of one's Dao should be decided by one's own heart'! What a 'I do not wish to be a chess piece'! Fellow Daoist Mo Xing, congratulations. You have passed this trial."
She stepped aside and cleared the path. "Please proceed. Master is already waiting for you within the palace."
Li Su felt a weight lift from his heart, only for immense excitement and tension to surge forth. Yuanshi Tianzun was waiting for him inside the palace?
He took a deep breath, moved his bamboo roots, and stepped onto the final nine white jade stairs.
With every step he climbed, the pressure increased. It was not physical pressure, but the cleansing and trial of the Great Dao's laws—a final tempering of his will.
Li Su circulated the Eight Nine Mysterious Art Sword Edict, drawing upon all the power in his body. The faint glow of Star Swirl Body Protection flickered, while the Dao resonance of "Bedrock Rune" and "Protection" flowed around him as he climbed upward with steady steps.
At last, he stepped onto the final stair and arrived before the gates of Jade Void Palace, which radiated ancient Dao resonance.
The palace gates silently opened slowly, revealing a hazy scene within, as though they led to another universe.
Li Su composed himself and stepped inside.
The palace interior was not magnificent or resplendent with gold and jade. Instead, it was an endless void of chaos, where earth, fire, wind, and water arose and perished without cease, while hundreds of millions of stars revolved along mysterious trajectories.
At the center of the void sat a figure whose greatness and antiquity could not be described in words. He sat cross-legged upon a meditation cushion, surrounded by endless divine light and Dao resonance, as though he were the Dao itself—the origin of all things and the embodiment of all laws!
With only a single glance, Li Su felt his divine sense nearly shatter, while his bamboo body seemed ready to crumble into dust beneath that supreme pressure!
He hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to look directly at him, and bowed respectfully. "This junior, Mo Xing, pays respects to Saint Yuanshi! May the Saint's lifespan be boundless!"
A calm, indifferent voice that seemed to contain the ultimate truths of the universe resounded through the chaos, echoing directly in the deepest depths of Li Su's sea of consciousness:
"You have come for a purpose. I already know it."
"As one with the body of a variable, your Unfathomable Affinity cannot be measured."
"If you wish to enter my gate, you must understand my Dao."
"Then behold—"
As the words fell, the scene before Li Su changed again. He seemed to witness the birth of heaven and earth, the division of clear and turbid, the emergence of all things, and the establishment of laws.
He seemed to see the grand tableau of countless heavens and worlds, where living beings multiplied, karma intertwined, and great calamities cycled endlessly.
In the end, every vision converged into three ancient Dao characters containing supreme truths, which appeared before his primordial spirit—
Chan! Heaven! Dao!
Each character seemed to weigh a thousand jun, containing boundless mysteries and majesty!
Li Su instantly sank into them. His mind and spirit suffered an immense impact and cleansing, while his understanding of heaven and earth, laws, and the Dao rose madly at an unprecedented speed!
Yet at the same time, he sensed that this supreme Dao intent of "expounding the Heavenly Dao" differed fundamentally from his own path of drawing strength from slaughter.
His path was one of rebirth through destruction, merging countless methods, and seeking transcendence. There was even a certain fundamental... contradiction between the two.
Yuanshi Tianzun's Dao stood above the Heavenly Dao, expounding, regulating, and controlling it. His own Dao, however, was born beneath the Heavenly Dao, struggling, drawing strength, transforming, and seeking transcendence.
This was not a matter of right or wrong, but a difference in the very nature of their paths.
Li Su understood in an instant. Yuanshi Tianzun had never truly intended to accept him as a personal disciple. Instead, he was enlightening him, allowing him to see the difference between his own path and the fundamental Great Dao of Yuqing.
Sure enough, that vast voice rang out again. "My Dao follows heaven and responds to humanity, expounding ultimate truths and regulating all phenomena."
"Your Dao defies heaven and fights for fate, merging countless methods in pursuit of transcendence. Our paths differ; we cannot work together."
Li Su's heart immediately sank. Had his arduous journey here truly led to such an outcome?
However, the voice continued, "Yet the Heavenly Dao has fifty aspects; forty-nine unfold, while one escapes."
All things possess a sliver of hope. Since you are a variable and bear the opportunity of the one that escaped, you are also fated to possess this affinity.
"I can grant you the title of Nominal Disciple, permit you to cultivate on Kunlun Mountain, consult the outer sect scriptures of Yuqing, and listen to lectures on the Great Dao. However, my core Great Dao is not your path."
"Your future must be explored by yourself. I will neither interfere nor guide you."
"Whether you can find your own path to transcendence among the myriad Daos will depend entirely on your own fortune."
As the voice fell, a point of clear light flew from Yuanshi Tianzun and entered Li Su's brow.
It was a complex Yuqing Dao rune, representing his status as a Nominal Disciple of Kunlun Mountain. It also contained foundational information on certain Yuqing immortal arts and partial authority within Kunlun Mountain.
At the same time, a gentle force sent him out of Jade Void Palace.
The palace gates slowly closed.
Li Su stood in the plaza outside the palace, his mind still immersed in the shock and enlightenment of that encounter.
Although he had not become the Saint's personal disciple, obtaining the status of Nominal Disciple and being allowed to cultivate at Kunlun was already an immense opportunity.
More importantly, the Saint had personally enlightened him, allowing him to completely understand the direction and uniqueness of his own path.
Different paths could not be pursued together. Yet it was precisely because they were different that transcendence was possible!
From this moment onward, his path through the Primordial World finally had a clear goal—to carve out, among the myriad Daos, a path of transcendence that belonged to him alone!
Just then, the Daoist child who had guided him earlier appeared once more and said respectfully, "Senior Brother Mo Xing, please follow me. I will arrange a cave abode for you."
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